The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday
by Bookgurrrl
Summary: Cannon Until Sectionals. Future Fic. You can forget the past, but the past has a way of catching up to you. What have Rachel and Puck been up to for the past 61/2 years, and what happens when they meet again.
1. Chapter 1

The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday

**A/N: Hi there, this is a new story complexly unrelated to my other Story. This is cannon up until the EP: Sectionals, then it's my world. Special note of thanks, the story came out of brainstorms and conversations with EJ Sapphire who is also my editor. So a special thanks for both! **

**Disclaimer: This is a work of Fan fiction, I do not own Glee I simply want to play with them.**

**Prologue **_**Let's Get Physical**_

Crunch, crunch, crunch. The sound of each footstep thudded in his ears. Noah "Puck" Puckerman evened out his gait as his **feet** crunched into the sand. Breath in, breath out. His heart beat a steady tattoo against his chest. Puck smiled slightly, then picked up the pace. The scenic view of the beach and the endless expanse of the blue water blurred by, accompanied the slap of feet and the rhythm of his even breathing. Puck smiled again, this time with a hint of a leer as he ran past a tanned jogger with gravity defying breasts.

"_God I love California_." Puck thought to himself as he stepped up the pace and increased his speed once more. His body adjusted easily, as this was his daily routine. He looked up at a mile marker posted on the sign by the sidewalk and slowed. He walked over to the water fountain, gulped down a couple mouthfuls of the cool water and began to stretch. Once he was sufficiently cooled from the run, he dropped into the sand and began to do push-ups. Down, bend, straiten…his body adjusted to this motion as easily as the run. This was his favorite part of the day. Whatever bullshit he was dealing with faded away with the burn of muscle, the scent of sweat and the rush of adrenaline. Over the last six and a half years, adrenaline had become his drug of choice.

With a grunt and a well practiced move, he flipped onto his back and began to do crunches, oblivious to the sand that was clinging to his sweat covered body like a desperate lover. Puck paused in mid-crunch and adjusted the MP3 player attached to the Velcro band around his bicep. The growling rage of Trent Resnor and Nine Inch Nails filled his ears, and caused his blood to rush as he finished his routine.

Several minutes later he was stretching once again and looking out into the beauty that was the Pacific Ocean. He missed his friends back in Ohio, but this place with it's deep blue waters, beautiful beaches and surprisingly laid back atmosphere, had become home. Puck stretched once more, glancing at his watch as he did so. He took one more wistful look at he ocean, wishing he had time for a swim, then took off at a run once more. He left the beach and headed toward the residential section. Three miles later he was running up the sidewalk to a small craftsman style California bungalow. Puck felt a rush of pride as he jogged up the stairs to the porch of his house. He keyed in his code into the keyless entry of his front door (a modification he made shortly after he bought the place so he wouldn't have to take keys with him on his morning run). He grabbed the towel he had left on the porch and began to scrub the sand off his body. With out so much as a glance around him, he kicked off his running shoes and socks, and stepped out of his running shorts, leaving them in a sandy pile on the porch. He walked into the house closing the door behind him and padded naked into the bathroom.

Puck was proud of his small house, but he was absolutely _in love_ with his bathroom. While he had tried to keep the rest of the bungalow as true to the era and building style as he could, the bathroom was a marvel of modern design, luxury and function. The glass walls of the shower ran strait up to the ceiling keeping all of the steam in as several shower-heads were placed strategically around the shower, with a large "rain" shower head in the middle. He had pushed himself on the run and the rest of his work out routine, just so he could take a longer shower. He jumped as the icy spray hit him and goose-bumps spread across his body, once his temperature had cooled from the heat of the run, he turned the water up **as** hot as he could stand it, adjusted the shower-heads to the massage settings and sighed appreciatively, as he thought about what he had to accomplish that day. Once he was clean, and his muscle reinvigorated, he turned off the water. He grabbed a thick blue bath sheet, toweled off quickly and wrapped it around him.

He padded into the kitchen and began to make breakfast. Fresh fruit, non-fat yogurt and a protein shake; he come a long way from warm coke and cold pizza for breakfast, but that was all part of growing up. He ate quickly, washed the few dishes that he had used and went to get dressed. Another quick glance at his watch confirmed that he was on schedule.

Puck patted his car appreciatively and jumped in. It was a cobalt blue 1967 Mustang GTA convertible and it was his baby. Being able to drive a convertible with the top down was just one more thing that he loved about living in California. He slipped on his sunglasses as he pulled effortlessly out of his driveway. He smiled to himself and admired another flawless California day as he drove the ten minutes to work. Puck pulled up to the gate of Naval Amphibious Base - Coronado and flashed his ID to the guard.

"Good Morning Lieutenant." the sailor said as he saluted smartly.

"Morning." Puck replied as he saluted back.

He pulled into his parking lot, locked his car and walked into work; painted on the wall as he entered the building were the words, _**The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday**_... The SEAL motto.

**Chapter 1: ****Proud To Be An American**

It didn't matter that he had walked through these doors hundreds of times before; every time he walked in and saw those words, an electric current ran down his neck. He looked around the building, at the men that he fought, played and served with and felt a flush of pride. These men depended on him, and he on them. '_Not bad for a Lima looser' _he thought a little bitterly, frowning a little as he thought of his hometown, and the name that Quinn had labeled him. He had maintained a sort of strained truce with Finn and Quinn after Sectionals. Thanks to the meddling of Rachel (and her lawyer father) he was allowed to have some say in what happened to his daughter. They found a nice couple who agreed to an open adoption, despite the fact that Quinn wanted a closed adoption. In the beginning Puck received pictures and letters on holiday's and birthdays, but over the years he had built a real relationship with Eva and with Lilly and Erick, Eva's parents. He visited them in Georgia at least two or three times a year, and was considered Uncle Puck. Puck smiled wistfully as he thought of the curly blond haired girl with green eyes. He tapped his wallet in an unconscious gesture, knowing that there were ever present pictures of his "niece" in there. Eva was the reason why he joined the Navy in the first place.

After she was born, pretty much everything went back to status quo. Quinn joined the Cheerios again, and had even gotten back together with Finn again. She did everything in her power to forget that she had ever been pregnant, and high school being what it was focused on the next scandal and that was that; except for Puck. It is one thing to be told that sex can lead to teen pregnancy, but to actually experience it was an eye opening experience. He hated that he had to give Eva up, but in the end he realized that he was doing what was best for her, he was also determined to never put himself in that position again, he was going to leave Lima and make something of himself.

One day after football practice, a Navy recruiter approached him. He liked the idea of being able to start over somewhere else and the military seemed like an ideal solution. Much to his surprise, he rocked the ASVAB's and breezed through basic. Puck, being the bad-ass he was decided that if he was going to be in the military, then he was going to be a Naval-Badass, and what was more hardcore than being a SEAL? The year or training was the hardest of his life, but it was worth it. For a guy could only count on himself, it was a heady feeling to realize that he now had eight brothers that he could trust with his life. It was what he had always wanted from being on a football team, but never realized. His mom and Arin moved to San Diego shortly after he finished SEAL training, and for the first time in his life, he was happy.

He started taking college classes on his downtime because his buddy was, and three years later he graduated; he and Sam went to Officer Candidate School (OCS) together. That was two years ago, now he was the OIC (officer in charge) of his own squad. He had his family, a job that he loved and his own place, ironically the only thing that was missing was a girl. He had yet to find a woman that he wanted to spend more than a few months with.

"Hey Puck." a deep male voice called from behind him. "Stop day dreaming man, your supposed to be in Op's in ten."

Puck shook himself out of his reverie and smirked at his friend. "Keep your shirt on man, I'm coming." He punched the man in the shoulder and went to work.

**A/N 2: **I've been asked to take part of the 'Support Stacie Author Auction' to help raise money for 'Stacie' an avid fan fic reader 'truelovepooh' who is battling ovarian AND breast cancer without medical insurance.

Starting March 26 and going through March 29, members of the forum (anyone can join) bids on an author and at the end of the auction, the winning bidder (after their money is sent), gets a fic written by me, for them.

Several fellow Glee authors are partaking in this auction...

(remove the spaces to use the links)

**Myself (Bookgurrrl):**

( http :// www . supportstacie . com / phpBB3 / ? f=25&t=2063)

**SapphireEJ / SapphiresFic:**

( http :// www . supportstacie . com / phpBB3 / ? f=25&t=2047)

**GoingVintage:**

( http :// www . supportstacie . com / phpBB3 / ? f=25&t=2031)

**Mag721:**

( http :// www . supportstacie . com / phpBB3 / ? f=25&t=2068)

**The main forum:**

( http :// www. supportstacie . com / phpBB3/ )

This auction is listed under the '2010 April Author Auction' thread and we, specifically, are listed under the 'Glee Auctions'.

If you would like any of us to write a fic for you and you're willing to bid on us, hop on over to the forum and check it out, see our auctions and see what it's all about. It's totally worth it!

Having a grandma who had a double mastectomy and my twin sister having ovarian cancer, this is a great cause to support because it hits close to home for me.

Thanks for reading!

(Thanks to SapphireEJ / SapphiresFic for writing this note for me and letting me use some of her message!)

**A/N 3**: I am almost done I swear. This is a new story, so please tell me what you think, should I continue? As always thanks for your time and don't forget to tip your waitress (review).


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 : **Dream a Little Dream**

**A/N: **I just wanted to say thank you for all the wonderful review and alerts, I hope you continue to enjoy the story. I'm sorry that I have not responded, I've been trying to update my stories as fast as I can. Thank you thank you to EJ for her kick-as editing skills and contributions.

**Story is cannon up to sectionals, then it's my own playground.**

One-two-three-four, breathe. Rachel's arms sliced gracefully through the water with precise, well practiced moves as she repeated the pattern. Her form was smooth and efficient as she quickly made her way down to the other side of the pool with another breath and a polished flip-turn, she finished the lap and began another. Before Rachel had gone to OCU, the only swimming that she had ever really done had been at either at hotel pool, while on vacations with her parents, or at the river. Once she got to school, one of her fellow students had suggested it as a means to increase her lung capacity, she was never really sure whether that was actually true or not, but she did fall in love with the sport, and she was able to hit her notes longer and that was all that mattered to her.

As she continued the rhythm of her body, her mind drifted off to college and the events that had brought her to where she was today.

When she was in high school, she was sure that she would _**die**_, if she didn't get into Julliard, so when her parents informed her that thanks to the stock market crash and the recession that followed it, her college fund had taken a huge hit she thought she would never recover. While her parents weren't broke and her college fund wasn't completely decimated, $50,000 a year for tuition was out of the question. She walked around school in a full out diva funk for almost two weeks until Mr. Schuester gave her a brochure to OCU (Oklahoma City University) and the Bass School of Music.

He casually mentioned that Kristen Chenoweth _(one of her personal Idols, behind Barbra Streisand of course) _had graduated from there. Rachel went home and promptly began to research the school and was pleasantly surprised; it may not have had the instant name recognition that Julliard had, but what it did have was one of the best musical theater

programs in the country. She applied to the school and aced the audition. Not only was she accepted, she was offered a partial scholarship, so it was with a happy and excited heart that she left Lima behind for Oklahoma City.

College was an eye opening experience, to say the least. Not only was she able to leave all of the baggage of high school behind, she was able to re-invent herself. Short skirts, knee socks and cardigans were replaced with a more updated and comfortable wardrobe; a graduation present to her from Kurt and Mercedes. The personality traits that were found to be so annoying in Lima, Ohio, the intensity, the drive, and the single-minded determination were not only accepted here, but shared. BSM had a highly competitive musical theatre program. All of the students were the leads and superstars of their respective high schools; they were all just like Rachel and had taken years of dance, acting, and vocal classes. Instead of intimidating Rachel, it actually made her feel great. She was finally on a level playing field for the first time in her life, and she was able to make friends.

She loved college. She worked hard and learned a lot, including balance. It was at school and with the help of her friends, that she learned that having fun and enjoying life's experiences was as important as anything she learned in the classroom. In fact she realized that it wasn't being a _star _that was important, it was being on stage, performing and interacting with her cast mates. Despite all of the years of lessons, enduring social humiliation and slushy facials to achieve her goal, it wasn't until college that she finally fell in love with being an actor; with being a performer.

Rachel danced, sang and worked her butt off. She skipped vacations and took as many classes, participated in as many performances that she could and enjoyed every second of it; including the small parts, the bad music and the pushy pompous directors. Because along with the bad, there were the good friends, the workshops, the discovery of a new part and the late night karaoke competitions, there was joy.

Four and half years later Rachel graduated with a Masters in Music _(Musical Theater)_.She moved on to the next phase of her life excited, but a little more realistic. She moved to New York with her best friend, Justin, and began the grueling process of trying to find a job, after a couple of two and three day gigs, enough to get into SAG _(Screen Actor's Guild) _and pay the rent, she auditioned and was accepted as the understudy for the role of Sophie Sheridan in the traveling Broadway production of Mamma Mia.

Traveling productions were hard grueling work, and understudies were known as "back-stage bitches" tasked with doing any and all grunt work, but it was steady work, a great opportunity, and more importantly she would be able to be an AEA (Actor's Equity Association) member and get the all important Equity Card. She found a new roommate for Justin, packed up all her stuff and sent it back to Lima, and hit the road. Three weeks later she went from understudy to lead thanks to the former lead's sudden impending motherhood. It was a steep learning curve, but Rachel handled it like the professional she always was. With eight shows a week, plus rehearsals; not to mention a new city every few weeks, it left little time for a social life, but she was finally doing what she had trained so hard for and she loved it! Rachel played Sophie six nights a week for eight months until her contract was up. As luck would have it her contract expired in San Diego, California, where her best friend from college was currently living.

Rachel was ready for an extended break and San Diego was the ideal place to take it. Thanks to the advice of her accountant father, Rachel had put eighty-percent of her salary from Mamma Mia! into a savings account, so she had a nice nest egg to sit on, and time to decide what her next step would be. She moved into Justin's spare bedroom and spent the next few weeks lying by the pool, reading deliciously trashy novels and swimming laps.

She was rested. She was tanned. She was bored. Once again, her best friend came to her rescue and informed her that the Old Globe, the theater company where he worked, was holding auditions. Rachel jumped at the chance. Not only did it have a reputation as one of the best regional theatres in the country (John Lithgow had just finished a production there.) The Old Globe was located in the middle of historic Balboa Park, and housed three theaters, which meant that there were always at least two to three shows being produced and _that _meant continuous work; the holy grail for any working actor.

Six months later and Rachel was about to start her third production with the company. Last month she had moved from Justin's spare room into an apartment of her own next door. She had a great job, a place of her own and good friends. The only thing that she didn't have in her life was a man, but she figured that would happen eventually.

Rachel was suddenly jarred out of her musings as a Nerf football hit her head, stopping her in mid-stroke. Rachel sputtered and glared up at her best friend. "What the hell Justin!" Rachel snapped, "are you trying to drown me?"

Justin laughed, and dogged the soggy football the Rachel threw back at him. "I keep telling you, honey, if you had a man you wouldn't be so bitchy."

Rachel swam to the side of the pool and pulled herself up. "You _had a man_, as you so eloquently put it, last night." She retorted responding to their well practiced banter, "and you are still a bitch, so what's your excuse." Rachel toweled herself off and shook her wet hair at Justin like a dog shedding water.

The blond chuckled and calmly stepped back. "Yes, but on me, Bitch looks good; you just look repressed."

She laughed at him and placed a loud wet kiss on his cheek. "Was there a reason behind your visit, or did you just come down to annoy me?" she gathered her things and began to walk toward her apartment.

"I came to remind you that the new batch of impressionable young minds are coming to the theater today for the mentoring program, and since you have been enslaved... I mean, chosen to be a mentor, you have a little over an hour to get your well-toned ass to work."

Rachel quickly opened the door to her apartment, motioning Justin in and immediately headed to the bathroom. "Shit! I don't know what's worse," she called as she started the shower, "The fact that I forgot, or that I now owe you dinner for reminding me." With a good natured laugh, she shut the door and got in the shower.

Twenty minutes later, she was showered and dressed, she headed to the kitchen and rolled her eyes. Justin was sitting in her comfy over-stuffed chair eating a bowl of stir-fry. She grabbed the salad that she had made earlier and sat down next to her friend. "Why do you always eat at my place?"

Justin stuck out his tongue and stabbed a piece of broccoli with his fork. "Because you don't live with me anymore and all the leftovers are here," he said with a put out expression.

"The leftovers are at my house, because _I_ am the on who cooks, remember?" She replied with a smile. "but since you walked _all _the way to the pool and reminded me that I had to go into work early today, I guess I can give up my stir-fry."

Her best friend shook his head emphatically "Nope. _**You **_said dinner, so dinner it is."

He looked around at Rachel's small, but stylish, apartment. The walls were painted a Tiffany blue that complimented the comfortable over-stuffed chocolate brown furniture. There were splashes of color all over the room due to pillows, vases and other nick-knacks that Rachel had collected on her tour of the US. The walls had framed black and white pictures hanging that Rachel had taken over the last five and half years. Justin secretly thought that if Rachel ever got tired of the stage, she would make an amazing photographer, but kept that thought to himself.

"How is it that you have only been here a month, and your place looks great, but I've been at my place for over a year and it still looks like my college dorm room." He got up and put his bowl in the dishwasher.

She chuckled as she finished her salad. "you know why; I was nice to the assistant set designer."

"So was I," Justin replied.

"No," she said slowly, "_you_ slept with him, and then proceeded to avoid him for the next two weeks." she put her dish away, then went into her bedroom to grab her bag.

"I have to get to work. Do you approve?" Rachel asked. She turned around slowly then struck a pose, it was a long standing ritual between them that started in college. Whenever Rachel left the house, if Justin was around he had to 'approve' of her outfit choice. The man studied her critically. Rachel wore a jewel toned printed tunic top, a pair of gray slacks and sapphire blue suede ballet flats. Her hair was loose around her face, slightly curled from the damp of the shower. She wore subtle make-up. The only jewelry that she wore was a simple pair of diamond studs that were a graduation gift from her dads. "Well?" she asked wryly, raising an eyebrow "do I pass inspection?"

Justin nodded and began to walk out of the apartment, "you still can't accessorize for shit, but you'll do. I'll see you at work in a couple of hours." he placed a quick kiss on her cheek, then walked into his own apartment.

Shaking her head, Rachel locked the door and went to her car. She generally loved to walk to work when it wasn't a performance day it was one of the things she loved about her apartment building, but she knew that she didn't have time today. She drove through the arches of the park; living there for six months, the beauty of the architecture never failed to amaze her. Yes, parking was a bitch because Balboa Park was one of the most popular places in San Diego, but it was beautiful and worth it.

--- ~ ---

Puck opened his locker and grabbed his PT gear.

"You're seriously going to work out, man? It's hot as balls out there." Scoffed Matt Anderson.

Puck shrugged and undressed. "It's just sweat man." he knew that the Ensign thought that he was crazy for going out there with his squad when it wasn't required. Puck's morning work out routine was common knowledge. He pulled on his shorts, then turned and studied the other man for a moment. Anderson was new to the unit, and he knew that he had only joined the SEALs to prove something to his old man who had also been one.

"If I can't be bothered to work out with my men just because it's hot, why should I expect them to trust me when we are in the thick of it?" Puck said gravely. He put a hand on the young officers shoulder, and looked him in the eye. "Never ask your squad to do anything that your not willing to do yourself," he said quietly. "they will follow you because they have to, but they will never respect you."

The young man swallowed reflexively a couple times, then quickly changed into his PT gear. "Thank you sir." he muttered, then double timed it out of the locker room.

Puck made a mental note to keep an eye out for the man.

His fellow OIC and best friend, Sam, nodded in greeting as he walked in, "am I seeing shit again, or did Andersen just go PT with his squad?"

Puck just shrugged and continued to get dressed.

He chuckled at his friend, "you gave him the '_never ask anyone to do what your not willing to' _speech didn't you?" Sam asked shaking his head. "You know that he's probably gonna wash out right?"

Puck nodded with a sigh, "he's not hard core they way we are, he still doesn't understand what being a SEAL is, but he might have potential, so until he actually does wash out, I'm gonna do what I can, even if that means giving him lame ass lectures."

"You're my Hero man!" Sam said mockingly, wiping away fake tears.

"Bite Me." he replied as he punched his friend in the arm, taking the comment for the compliment that it was.

Sam grinned and punched him back. "Saved by the bell, man," he said nodding to the cell phone that was ringing in Puck's locker.

Puck punched his friend again, then picked up the phone. "Hi Ma." he said with a smile.

Sam watched his friend as he spoke to his mother. They punched and teased each other like the brothers that they had become. He trusted and respected Noah more than anyone he had ever known. _'He's a hell of an Officer.'_ Sam thought, not for the first time. What he didn't say to his friend, was that he'd had basically the same conversation with Ensign Anderson a couple of weeks ago. The man had yes sir'd him and then disregarded his advice. It's not that Sam didn't think of himself as a great officer and an outstanding SEAL, it was just that Puck had something else; his grandfather called it _gravitas_. He didn't speak a lot, but when he did, you just listened.

Puck hung up the cell phone and put it back in his locker.

"How's my mother from another brother?" Sam asked.

He grinned at his buddy. "sorry dude, you can't wrangle a dinner invite tonight. She has to work late at the hospital so she asked me to pick up my sister at some camp thing."

Sam frowned. "Hey, don't you have duty tonight?"

Puck nodded, "yep, but I have time to go get her, feed her and make it back for my shift. My mom won't be too late so she'll just pick her up here."

Sam reached down and tied his running shoes. "I'll keep an eye on little-puck for you when you all get back. We can watch a movie in the lounge until your mom picks her up."

"Dude, she's fifteen not five." he said, proud that his friend was so protective of his sister.

"So we won't watch a Disney movie, just bring me food." he said rolling his eyes.

"Deal, bro," Puck fist bumped his friend, and jogged out of the locker room.

--- ~ --

Rachel looked at her watch surprised at how quickly the day had passed. Despite Justin's reference to the mentor program being 'enforced slavery', Rachel found that she was really enjoying it. There were a couple of kids who were there just because their parents forced them to join the Jr. Theater program, and there were a couple of kids who were mini pompous jack-asses that acted like they already belonged on Broadway, but for the most part they were a talented focused group, that just wanted to learn, and were grateful to spend time with a professional theater company.

Rachel has already taken a girl named Arin under her wing. She was a striking, intelligent girl with a lovely voice and a lot of enthusiasm. Arin's only problem was that she didn't know where to focus. She had a nice vocal range and a great stage presence. Rachel thought that she had a chance at a career in Musical Theater until she accidentally saw the girl's sketch book. Rachel was working on the assignment for the day; they were rehearsing a scene from Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare.

Arin had a flare and understanding for the rhythm of Shakespeare. At lunch, Rachel saw the girl scribbling furiously in her notebook, curious, she walked over and sat down next to the girl, she saw that instead of scene notes, they were costume sketches and they were extraordinary. Arin had quickly closed the notebook so Rachel decided not to mention what she had seen.

They day ended with a group improvisation exercise that had everyone in stitches. Rachel walked around the theatre picking up abandoned scripts and empty water bottles and such, grinning as she noticed that Arin was doing the same thing on the other end of the theatre.

"Thanks for the help." she said as they met in the middle.

"Your welcome." the teen said with a smile. "my brother's picking me up so I knew that I had a few minutes to kill."

"Come on," she said as they walked toward the exit, "I'll stay with you until he gets here. Is he meeting you in front of the Museum of Art?"

Arin nodded "yep, It's the closest parking lot the Theatre." The duo walked out of the ornate courtyard and though the gate to stand in front of the Museum of Art.

"Did you like going to OCU?" she asked.

Rachel nodded, "I really did. They have an amazing music school, and I still keep in touch with my musical advisor; I didn't even consider west coast schools," she added, thinking back to the sketch book in the girl's bag. "OCU has a much more classical approach to music, UCLA has a pretty great drama program that covers a lot of different disciplines." Rachel turned to the parking lot as she heard the roar of a muscle car.

"Well, my brother is here to pick me up," Arin motioned to the classic Mustang that pulled into parking lot.

"Great car," Rachel said with admiration. Southern boys loved their muscle cars and she had grown to appreciate them while away in college. Rachel gave the Mustang a closer look, noticing the blue camo uniform the driver wore. "Is he in the military?"

"Oh yeah. He calls himself a Navy Badass," Arin rolled her eyes at the nickname, "just because he's a SEAL."

Puck saw that his sister was talking to a brunette; he assumed was one of the mentors. He quickly noticed her petite form; his mind flashing back to a brunette he knew in high school, wondering where she had ended up.

Seeing his sister was still engrossed in their conversation, he parked his car, got out, pushed his Aviator glasses onto his face, and adjusted his camo cover before walking across the lot to them, settling it down so the bill covered his forehead.

At Arin's term 'badass' Rachel's mind drifted back to a boy she that knew in school, "when I was in high school, I knew a boy who called himself the school badass. My friend Mike said he joined the military, but I don't know what branch." Rachel commented, noticing the sailor walking closer to them, his build similar to that of the boy she remembered, "_I wonder what happened to Noah,_" Rachel thought briefly.

"Arin, are you ready to go? We have to grab some dinner and head back to the base until mom gets off of work. I have duty tonight. Sam said he's gonna hang out with you." Puck said looking at his watch distractedly, hoping that would hurry her up.

Rachel squeaked in shock at the familiar voice, her eyes flashing to him and to the name tag in gold letters on his uniform, 'PUCKERMAN'. "NOAH!" She exclaimed.

Hearing that voice saying his real name and seeing her shock, he stared down at the girl he'd admired from afar, "Rachel?"

"You're a... and you're Arin's... And you're..." Rachel's eyes grew wide seeing him, a full sentence not possible at the moment.

"Wow, I've stunned Rachel Berry speechless," he smirked removing his cover and glasses to prove it was him.

Rachel studied the man, taking a moment to regain her composure. She was a professional actress damn it, composure is her middle name. "Mike said that you joined the military but he never gave specifics." she said calmer. "do you talk to the old gang very often?"

Puck shook his head 'no', still shocked that he was talking to Rachel Berry, and she was all grown up. "I wrote to him a few time in basic, then we kinda lost touch."

Arin poked her brother, "I thought you had duty, Noah. Aren't we having dinner with Sam." Arin blushed a slight pink; she'd had a crush on Sam since they moved to San Diego.

Rachel grinned and studied Noah appreciatively. "The uniform suits you." The clock in the museum tower began to chime.

"I'd really like to catch up and hear how you ended up in San Diego, but I really do have to be on Duty in less than an hour," he said apologetically.

"Do you have duty tomorrow evening?" Rachel asked boldly.

"No, I don't." he replied with a flirty smile.

"Then would you like to catch up over dinner?" Rachel asked smiling.

"I'd like that." Puck replied.

"Good." she said cheekily, "I have rehearsal until six-thirty, but we can meet at the Old Globe courtyard by the fountain and have dinner at the Prado here in the park. We can just walk over. Does that sound okay?"

Puck nodded and smiled at her. "It's a date." with a wink he pulled his cover back onto his head. Grinning tapped his hand on the bill of his hat and walked back to his car, Arin trailing beside him.

Despite her self, Rachel wobbled as her knees went just a little weak.

**A/N 2: **Disclaimer, I try to make things as accurate as I can, but I am not a SEAL or a working actor so please keep in mind that this is fiction, and so are some of the details. Thank you again for your support, and remember if you like it, or even if you don't _REVIEW_. It really does motivate us all to write more. Thank you.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 ****I'm Too Sexy for My Shirt**

**A/N: **_I'm so sorry that it took so long to update, real life has decided to use my ass as a soccer ball lately. Thank you so much for all of the lovely reviews and alerts. I really do appreciate it. Thank you so much to my awesome beta EJ. _

Rachel checked her watch, then knocked frantically on her best friends door. "Come on," she muttered earnestly as she knocked rapidly on the door again.

"Keep your shirt on," Justin called from the other side of the door, "unless you're Taylor Lautner, then you can just keep on stripping." He opened the door with a flourish and a glint in his eye, "darn," he replied as he eyed Rachel.

"Are you alone?" He nodded in the affirmative and was unceremoniously pulled from his apartment and toward hers. He quickly shut his door behind him as he was dragged by the hyper brunette. "fashion emergency," she said pulling him inside.

He gave her a quick once over, taking in the comfortable faded jeans, ballet flats and fitted black t-shirt. "you look fine darlin'," he drawled, "it's just a rehearsal day."

"I have a date tonight," she said anxiously, "okay so maybe it's not a _date_, date. But it's dinner...with a man." Rachel scowled at her friend, "are you going to help me or not?"

Justin walked into his friends room, "okay baby-girl, you need to take a deep breath." He stared at her, hand on hip waiting for her to comply. She inhaled, waited a few seconds, then expelled, "good. Now spill! Who is this date-not-a-date, date?"

Rachel grinned and rolled her eyes at her best friend, "his name is Noah, I mean Puck and..."

"Is he a fairy?" he interrupted with a smirk

"Oh no," Rachel said with a lusty grin, "he his most certainly straight."

He chuckled and shook his head, "get your head out of the gutter princess," the blond scolded laughingly. "I was referring to 'A Midsummer's Night Dream', Puck."

"Oh," Rachel flushed and began to dig through her jewelry box, "he was definitely a prankster in high school, but they called him Puck because of his last name, Puckerman. Not that the other definition didn't also apply," she said with a smile.

He turned and raised an eyebrow, "So, old high school flame," he began shuffling hangers aside, "and a nice Jewish boy."

Rachel laughed again, "the Jewish part is right anyway. It turns out that his sister Arin, is my protégé in the mentor program. I ran into him last night when he came to pick her up; he had to go back to work so I invited him to dinner tonight."

Justin pulled out a simple black mini-dress, modest in the front, and cut down to the middle of her back. He then rooted around for a prized pair of Monolo Blanik strappy sandals. Pushing her gently out of the way, he began to search through her jewelry box like a pro, "so what does 'prankster boy' do for a living?"

"He is a Navy Lieutenant," she said, still a little amazed of the school troublemaker's transformation.

"Nice," he smiled and plucked out a necklace.

"He is a SEAL, actually," she explained.

"Even better," he said with a wolf whistle, "was he in uniform?" Rachel nodded and blushed. Her friend sighed "gotta love a man in a uniform!"

"You sure do." she replied lasciviously.

"Oops, there it goes," Justin quipped, "your mind just slid by in the gutter again."

Rachel smacked her friend playfully on the arm and surveyed the outfit that he had laid out on her bed. It was sexy, but simple and casual. She squealed in approval and hugged her friend enthusiastically. "It's perfect. You're the best friend a girl could ever ask for!"

She hugged him again and gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek, then placed the outfit into a garment bag. "Anytime honey, it's what I'm her for," he smiled and added a small sparkly handbag to the garment bag. "What time are we meeting the SEAL stud?" He asked with a mischievous grin.

"Justin," she said warningly; he was notorious for either grilling or outrageously flirting with her past boyfriends and dates, he had been that way since freshman year in college. He said it was '_his duty as best friend to test, and or question all potential suitors_'.

"I just want to me him, then I'll fly off. I promise, best friends prerogative. I can always grill him the next time we meet," he said cheekily.

Rachel rolled her eyes at him, but knew he would find out anyway, besides she secretly liked knowing that he always had her back, especially if it was encased in a fabulous dress that he'd picked out. "I'm meeting him at the fountain in the theater courtyard at six-thirty. I'll introduce you then you will vacate. Got it?"

"Scouts honor," he replied with a smirk.

She gathered her garment bag and purse. "Now shoo! I have to go, thanks again for the help."

He bowed in acceptance and kissed her on the cheek.

--- ~~ ---

A heavy bass thudded methodically in the background, as music filled the garage. Puck unconsciously tapped his foot to the rhythm of the beat as he finished changing the oil in his 'baby'.

"I thought you were a SEAL, not a grease monkey," said a voice by the open garage door.

"I'm such a bad-ass I can be both," Puck replied as he slid out from beneath his car and grinned up at his best friend, Sam. He wiped the grease off of his hands and gave his friend a hand shake-shoulder bump in greeting.

"It's your day off and your changing the oil in your car? You live a wild life my brother, I'm surprised that I don't hear about you on the evening news," Sam quipped.

"Day off my ass, I just pulled a 24-hour as you well know, besides I changed the spark plugs and replaced the garbage disposal at my mom's place," he said with a grin, putting the rest of his tools away. He walked over to the fridge in the garage and took out two bottles of cold water. "Heads up," he called, as he tossed one of the bottles to his friend, who caught it effortlessly.

"Yeah, you're a real wild man. Get your gear, we have a basket ball game against EOD (explosive ordinance disposal). I'll spring for spicy Indian food and then we'll go to that new club down town, maybe you can meet a spicy girl of your own." Sam dimpled up at him, looking both innocent and devilish at the same time.

Puck chuckled knowing that, that damn dimpled grin was the reason why Sam was currently dating three different girls. He threw the grease rag at the man and headed to the house. "I'm down for basketball, but your gonna have to handle the spicy food and women on your own tonight, better yet, take the newbie with you, Sanders, he is all earnest and shiny new. I'll bet he's better than a puppy, when it comes to attracting chicks."

Sam quick stepped and caught up to his friend, putting a hand on his shoulder, his face worried. He knew that only a few things would cause his friend to cancel on him, "hey, is everything cool with your mom?"

Puck smiled, once again grateful for the mans friendship. They had gone through BUD/S (basic underwater demolition/SEAL) training together and had spent almost everyday of those six months together. He realized that despite geography and skin color they truly were brothers. It was Sam that made him think about his future and goaded him into college, and when it he graduated, they both went to OCS (Officer Candidate School) together; he knew that whatever the situation, the man had his back, and he had Sam's. "Dude, everything is cool. I just have other plans tonight, is all," he laughed again as his friend raised his eyebrow questioningly. "If you must know, I have a date tonight, okay? Damn you are worse than Ma."

Sam laughed as he tried to pinch Pucks cheeks "my little boy is all grown up," he said mockingly.

Puck punched him not so lightly and shook his head.

"Seriously, who's the poor thing, I mean, lucky lady?" Sam asked.

He chuckled lightly then checked his watch, "I'll tell you about her in the car, I gotta grab my gear and a change of clothes and then we have to jet our we will be late for the game."

Sam rolled his eyes at his friend, for a guy who had a reputation as a bad-ass, he hated being late to anything, even if it was just a weekly basketball game. "You want me to help you pick out an outfit for your date?" He called out in a sotto voice. He laughed again as he heard Puck say, "_fuck off,_" from the other room. "Don't forget, black is slimming!" He called in response.

In less then ten minutes Puck had changed into PT gear, packed a change of clothes and they were on the road, headed back to the base.

"Okay, tell me about the girl," he said, as Puck pulled onto Orange Ave.

"Dude, you really are worse than my mother," he said jokingly, "her name is Rachel. She is Arin's mentor in the theater program."

"Really?" He replied, "Arin wouldn't stop talking about her last night, pretty fast work there my brother."

Puck laughed again, "we knew each other in high school, her dad helped me out with Eva, and Rachel and I dated for like two seconds or whatever. We're doing the 'catching up over dinner' thing."

Sam eyed his friend, they knew each other too well, for all that this was a catch-up dinner, he could tell that his friend was excited, he was just way to bad-ass to show it. "She hot?" He asked making it sound more like a statement of fact than a question.

"Smokin'" Puck agreed, and pulled onto the base. They got out of the car, and greeted their friends and team-mates, there were back slaps and fist bumps as the men made their way over to the basketball court.

"If you don't scare her away tonight, do I get to meet this Rachel chick of yours?" Sam asked playfully as he bumped his friend.

Puck smacked his friend upside the head, "we'll see, I swear you are turning into a little Jewish old lady."

Sam stopped, took of his shirt and did a slow three-sixty turn, arms in a muscle man pose. "Does an old lady have a six-pack like this?" He flexed his stomach and chest muscles that were a source of envy.

One of the women leaving the gym let out a very un-ladylike wolf whistle in appreciation.

"Freak" Puck muttered with a laugh, pulling off his own shirt, exposing his well toned and muscled physic, and tossed it on the bench. "I guess we're skins," he called as he passed the muscled man the ball.

_---~~~---_

Rachel turned in front of the mirror again, and pulled her lip-gloss out of her purse for a touch up. Justin waltzed into the ladies dressing room and gave her an appraising look. He clucked his tongue to the roof of his mouth disapprovingly, before he reached over and grabbed a hair brush and straitening iron from the make up table, then gently guided her into the chair and began to torture (fix) her hair into submission. A few minutes later he was smiling happily as Rachel's hair flowed sleekly down her back accenting the backless cut of the dress. "Now you look gorgeous," he said smugly, "let's go meet fish-boy."

Rachel turned and gave her friend a disapproving look. "Jus, I know you love to give my dates odd nicknames, but we are talking about a Navy SEAL here. His biceps are bigger than your dancers thighs, my darling dear. You call him fish-boy and he will snap you like the twig that you are."

Justin grinned up at her unrepentantly, "a valid point, what shall I name him then, oh princess of prose?"

Rachel giggled a the absurdity that is her best friend, "here's a novel idea, oh twiggy friend of mine, you could just call him by his actual, you know, name."

Justin kissed her on the head indulgently, "you know me to well for that sweetheart, I know I'll call him NB. That sweetheart of a little sister of his said he liked to think of himself as a Naval Badass, so NB for short."

Rachel shook her head and gathered her belongings, "your incorrigible, you know that?"

"Yep" he replied as he executed a perfect pirouette and walked out of the room, "let's go meet Mr. NB," he called over his shoulder.

Rachel laughed again at her friend '_he can't even leave a room without a dramatic exit.'_ she thought wryly, realizing that all of the nervousness that she had felt when she was getting dressed had evaporated, which was the whole reason why Justin acted the way he did. '_Drama queen or not, he really is a fabulous best friend,'_ she thought with a grin, and walked outside ready and excited to meet Noah.

_--- ~~~ ---_

The night was slightly cool, but perfect for a July evening. It was one of those nights that San Diego was famous for. Rachel smiled as she spied Noah standing by the fountain, he looked just as good in his civilian clothes as he did in his uniform, and that was saying something. He wore a pair of tailored black slacks that hugged him in all the right places, and a sage green silk shirt, and for a moment she almost missed the mow-hawk, almost. He was even better looking now than he was in high school.

Justin followed her eye line, "oh my, is that him?" He asked softly with a leer.

She nudged him playfully, "you promised," she whispered back, her heart speeding up.

Puck turned toward the sound of voices, his welcoming smile brightened as he saw a sexy grown up Rachel walk toward him. The smile faded as he watched Rachel throw her arm around a tall, blond and good looking guy (in that non threatening teen idol way) and whisper intimately in his ear. '_Just fucking fantastic' _he thought derisively _'my first date in fucking forever and she brings her boyfriend along, Sam's gonna laugh his ass off!' _

Puck squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. He took a couple steps forward and held out his hand toward Justin. "Hi, I'm Puck, Rachel's friend from high school," he said a little stiffly.

Justin shook his hand, squeezing a little harder than he normally would. "I'm Justin, nice to meet you," he replied as his voice deepened to what Rachel laughingly called his 'straight' voice. Justin, reminded himself of his promise to Rachel, kissed her quickly on the cheek, and smiled briefly at Puck. "Have fun catching up, take care of my girl," he said sternly.

"I'll see you when I get home," Rachel replied.

She turned to Puck, "it's nice to see you again, Noah," she said with a smile and kissed him on the cheek.

"Your boyfriend seems like a nice guy," he said his voice a little harsher than he'd intended as he tried to ignore how good Rachel smelled.

She looked at him, like he had suddenly sprouted a second head, then began to laugh, "Justin? My boyfriend?" She giggled again, "sorry, Justin is my best friend and he was my roommate through most of college, but Noah, he is gayer than Kurt. I asked you out, I wouldn't have done that if I had a boyfriend," Rachel blushed at the out burst, "and now I suddenly feel like a jack ass who is assuming too much, you probably thought this was just a catching up for old times sake thing, not a actual you know, date."

Puck smiled at her, and pulled her into a gentle hug, "your not a jack ass, I thought this was a you know, actual date," he mocked gently, "too, and just to get it out of the way, no I don't have a girlfriend."

Rachel blushed even harder.

He laughed softly, "let's try this again, okay?" He smiled and gave her a polite kiss on the cheek. "Hi Rachel, it's nice to see you again, you look stunning."

Rachel grinned up at him, glad that she had asked him to dinner in the first place, this grown up Noah was intriguing to say the least. "Hi Noah," she said with a chuckle, "you look pretty stunning yourself, would you like to walk over to the restaurant?"

He smiled back at her, and offered her his arm. She took it with a bow and a laugh as they walked out of the courtyard.

Justin laughed silently from behind the fountain, as he watched Rachel bow to the sailor, _'I am just that good,_' he thought smugly, _'nothing like a dose of jealously to break the ice.' _Justin gave the couple one last glance as they walked toward the Prado; he had his own date to get to.

**A/N2**_**: **__I'm writing the date chapter even as we speak, but I wanted to post something today so I spit this into two chapters. I hope you enjoyed it. The basketball scene is dedicated to EJ. Happy Monday. Thank you again for taking the time to read this story and as always don't forget to tip your waitress (review). It's better than air._


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